When Manish Malhotra tripped (IIFA Diary)

New York, July 16 (IANS) Veteran fashion designer Manish Malhotra tripped as he made his way to collect an award at the IIFA Rocks stage here but he was all smiles.

The debonair designer went up the stage to receive the Best Background Score on behalf of Pritam for “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil”. But just as he was about to get on to the last stair to the stage, he tripped.

Later, Manish took the stage to receive his own Best Costume Designing award for the same film, and he ensured he was careful.

“When I came to collect an award for Pritam, I fell badly. I think I am lucky when it comes to collecting an award for myself,” Manish quipped.

He was also excited to receive the trophy from one of his “favourite actress” Alia Bhatt.

IIFA Rocks, part of the International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) extravaganza here, was held at the MetLife Stadium on Friday night.

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Alia entertains with rap

She has already given her fans a sense of her singing ability with “Sooha saaha” and “Main tenu samjhawan”. But Alia Bhatt proved she can even rap well.

At the IIFA Rocks stage here, the talented actress came to the stage to present an award. And then the hosts Riteish Deshmukh and Maniesh Paul insisted she shows the audience a step or two.

But Alia said she would do that during her performance at the main IIFA Awards event on Saturday night.

However, she was sporting enough to offer to rap. And she did it, adding even a step or two, leading the audience to cheer on.

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Maniesh, Riteish ‘kill’ the show

A.R. Rahman’s two-hour performance was the highlight of the IIFA Rocks event here, but audience members had much to complain regarding the hosts Maniesh Paul and Riteish Deshmukh.

“They were killers… Absolutely boring, and killed the show,” said one of the attendees.

“The two guys should be fired from hosting jobs,” complained another while walking out of the concert.

A couple who was attending the concert for Rahman said they were planning to “walk out” of the event due to the “boring elements”.

Before Rahman took the stage, the organisers had Kamaal Khan and Diljit Dosanjh regale the audience. Riteish and Maniesh kept coming and going off the stage, cracking toilet humour and other done-to-death jokes.

They also tried celebrity engagement by involving them in a Hindi to English translation game, which failed to entertain the audience.

There were also some jokes referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and the cause of sanitation that he is promoting.